The decreasing size and cost of today's mobile radio equipment has resulted in such equipment being installed in many vehicles. The AM radio found in older vehicles is being supplanted by AM/FM radios, CB radios, and amateur radio equipment. The increased use of such radio equipment and vehicles has brought about several complementary needs. First, the manner in which the radios and their accompanying antennas are mounted in vehicles has encouraged their theft. Many devices exist which allow a radio to be quickly removed from the vehicle to avoid theft, but few devices exist which allow the antenna to be easily and quickly removed from the exterior of a vehicle by the owner. As a result, the antenna, which itself is often an expensive item, is frequently the part of the radio system which is stolen. Consequently, there is a great need for an antenna mount which will allow an antenna to be quickly disconnected from the exterior of the vehicle.
This need is especially acute in the trucking industry because the companies that own the vehicles typically do not furnish radio equipment to the drivers. Thus, the radio equipment in the truck is often the driver's personal property. As the radios in the truck are often a vital means of learning about traffic conditions and relaying emergency information, drivers have gone to great lengths to protect the radio antennas. Often, however, the devices which the drivers use to quickly attach the antennas to the outside of the trucks has resulted in damage to the trucks themselves. For example, truck drivers have attached their antennas to the mounting brackets of the external rearview mirrors of their vehicles with Vise-Grip type tools or similar self-locking tools. Also, drivers have taken to bolting and unbolting their antennas from the exterior of their trucks. As these methods are unsatisfactory both to the drivers and to the trucking companies, a device is needed which will allow an antenna to be quickly mounted and dismounted from the supporting bars of the external rearview mirrors found on many trucks. Additionally, such a device must resist the heavy vibration present in many vehicles, such as trucks, which tends to dislodge such devices.
The second need, is related to the first. The commercial vehicles owned by many companies and the personal and/or recreational vehicles owned by many families frequently have provisions for mounting radios in them. However, there are often more vehicles than there are radios; consequently, a single radio may be used in different vehicles at different times. As discussed above, devices which allow quick mounting and dismounting of radios within the vehicles themselves are available. However, devices which allow the quick mounting and dismounting of an antenna from the vehicles are not so easily found. This has resulted in antennas being permanently affixed to all of the vehicles in which a single radio could possibly be mounted. Having multiple antennas for a single radio is not only expensive, but encourages the theft situation discussed above. An antenna mount which could be quickly connected and disconnected from the exterior of the vehicle would not only reduce the number of antennas required for a given radio system, but would also help to discourage theft. Additionally, the installation of such systems on different types vehicles would be encouraged. That is, an antenna mount designed for mounting on the luggage rack of a family station wagon or sports car could also be attached to the external rearview mirror supporting bars of a recreational vehicle, the lifeline supporting bars on a sailboat, or on some corresponding exterior structure of a light airplane.
An additional problem which has presented itself more frequently in recent years is the low overhead clearance at the entrance of many parking structures and service garages. This low overhead clearance has often necessitated the removal of the antenna, or the use of an antenna which is less suitable than the one desired. Consequently, a need exists for an antenna mount which, in addition to providing the features discussed above, allows an antenna to be rotated from a vertical orientation with respect to the top of a vehicle to an orientation parallel with the top of a vehicle without causing the antenna to become disengaged from the vehicle itself.
Finally, some of the antenna mounts found in the prior art provide one or more of the above features, but are restricted in their application to specific types of vehicles or mounting situations. Thus, a need exists to provide an antenna mount which has the features discussed above and which is adaptable to be mounted in different positions on different types of structures supporting accessories on the exterior of a vehicle.
Accordingly, it is the principal object of this invention to allow a radio antenna to be quickly mounted and dismounted from a accessory supporting structure on the exterior of a vehicle.
It is another object of this invention to facilitate the mounting of radio antennas on the accessory supporting structures found on various types of vehicles.
It is a final object of this invention to allow an antenna mounted on the exterior of a vehicle to be rotated with respect to the vehicle, so as to allow the vehicle to enter parking structures and service garages without striking the antenna on the structures.